It's gonna get cold here pretty soon. I just bought a 60 W ceramic heat emitter and have it in a clamp lamp (ceramic socket type). Right now it is pointing at the side of my tank (30 gal), towards the top. My UTH is side-mounted on the same side.
How close can the ceramic lamp be to the glass?
Will it damage the UTH? It's not pointing directly at the UTH but it's pretty close. I can move the lamp to the other side but I wanted to keep this side the "warm" side and also my water dishes are on the other side and what would the lamp do to the humidity? Putting it over the top of the tank isn't really an option because of where my tank is and the type of lid I have. If I thought it would damage the UTH I would just take that dumb thing down since it doesn't seem to be doing anything anyways. I don't want it melted to my tank or cause a fire or nothing!
Also, can the lamp be cycled on and off or should it be left on all the time?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
A couple of questions about ceramic heat emitters
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what type of hood do you have for your tank? I dont' know much about the ceramic heaters, but I'd be worried about it cracking your tank if you've got it too close. If your hood is able to hold incandescent bulbs you might want to use sun-glo or repti-sun or some other full spectrum bulb that will not only heat the tank but also provide "sunlight".
As far as turning it on and off, that'll pretty much depend on how good a job it does heating the tank. I have my heat lamps on timers that come on and off throughout the day, then the night lamps are on all night and they keep the tank fairly stable. You'll have to experiment a bit and see how long you need to leave the heater on to get the tank where you want it, then see how long you can have it off for before the temp drops too low. You may also want to set it up so it's warmer in the day time and cooler in the night.
As far as turning it on and off, that'll pretty much depend on how good a job it does heating the tank. I have my heat lamps on timers that come on and off throughout the day, then the night lamps are on all night and they keep the tank fairly stable. You'll have to experiment a bit and see how long you need to leave the heater on to get the tank where you want it, then see how long you can have it off for before the temp drops too low. You may also want to set it up so it's warmer in the day time and cooler in the night.
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I bought this tank used and it came with an aquarium hood. It's been doing the job as far as keeping humidity in, but I wonder if heat will be escaping from it, especially as my house gets colder in the winter (which starts in September here!) It came with a lighting fixture that has a fluorescent-type full spectrum bulb in it that I cycle for a day-night cycle. I could use this light independently from the aquarium hood lid, if I get a plexiglass lid say, but I still can't put the clamp lamp above my tank regardless of the lid because it is on a desk with a shelf hanging over the tank, no room for the clamp lamp in between top of tank and shelf.
I am worried about the ceramic thingy cracking the glass too, which is why I wondered how close others who use them keep it to the glass.
I bought it from Crabbage Patch and it says on the website it is "designed for 24 hour heating" but now I wonder if that just means you can leave it on 24 hours if you need to, because it won't disturb their night cycle. It's not like a UTH which you have to keep on nonstop?
I went with this because 1) night glos just aren't going to heat my tank enough at night in the winter and 2) it's going to be a lot more efficient at providing heat than any visible light lamp. I guess those are kind of the same reasons
I am worried about the ceramic thingy cracking the glass too, which is why I wondered how close others who use them keep it to the glass.
I bought it from Crabbage Patch and it says on the website it is "designed for 24 hour heating" but now I wonder if that just means you can leave it on 24 hours if you need to, because it won't disturb their night cycle. It's not like a UTH which you have to keep on nonstop?
I went with this because 1) night glos just aren't going to heat my tank enough at night in the winter and 2) it's going to be a lot more efficient at providing heat than any visible light lamp. I guess those are kind of the same reasons
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Guest
Topic author
I used to use an aquarium hood for my tank when I was using a tank that had an appropriate sized hood I loved it, but mine had incandescent lighting. If you got it from TCP I'd email Tammy and see if she has any suggestions for how far away to place the heater. I mean you could use trial and error, put it really far and see if it heats, then slowly move it forward until it gets the tank where you want it too. Maybe you could look into getting a bi-light for the light on your tank instead of using the aquarium light?
I loved it, but mine had incandescent lighting. If you got it from TCP I'd email Tammy and see if she has any suggestions for how far away to place the heater. I mean you could use trial and error, put it really far and see if it heats, then slowly move it forward until it gets the tank where you want it too. Maybe you could look into getting a bi-light for the light on your tank instead of using the aquarium light?